


Love Covers Over A Multitude of Sins

by queenjameskirk



Series: if i believe you [1]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: 3+1 fic, Credence Barebone Needs a Hug, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Christianity, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 08:14:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8837221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenjameskirk/pseuds/queenjameskirk
Summary: The first time Credence lets a biblical verse slip through his lips after running away with Newt Scamander, it’s in awe.





	

1.  
The first time Credence lets a biblical verse slip through his lips after running away with Newt Scamander, it’s in awe. 

Holed up in the lower deck of a ship on its way to England, Newt Scamander offers his bed to Credence. There is only one cot in the small room Newt had booked for himself, not knowing he was going to be harboring a stowaway, and Newt decides that Credence needs a good night of rest and the floor won’t do for such a thing. Credence shakes his head, eyes downcast, but Newt doesn’t let him get in a word to decline. 

“I have my suitcase, I’ll be fine.” He argues, and Credence dares a look up to the young man’s face.

“Your suitcase?” Credence rasps, blinking as Newt taps the surface of the bag. 

“It’s much bigger than it seems,” Newt says, a strange sort of smile on his face. “Would you like me to show you?”

As he follows Newt down into his impossible case, Credence thinks fleetingly of witchcraft and what Ma would say, but dismisses it all. Ma’s dead. She can’t punish him for his sins anymore.

Newt takes him on a tour of every magical habitat, softly urging Credence to meet his creatures. The boy shrinks back in response, shaking his head. Too dangerous, Credence thinks to himself, you’re too dangerous. 

Newt’s creatures are truly magnificent beasts, Credence observes. He watches how gentle and nurturing the man is to them, and a bible verse comes into his mind.

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.” Credence whispers to himself as Newt picks up a Mooncalf and rubs the top of its head. Newt looks up slightly, mouth quirked. Credence flushes, realizing he’d spoken out loud, and ducks his head. But Newt doesn’t comment on Credence’s quote, just sets down the Mooncalf and leads Credence towards the next beasts’ enclosure. 

Later, when Newt is down in his suitcase and Credence is blessedly alone in the cabin room, the boy tosses and turns in bed, contemplating his sins. 

 

2.  
The second time Credence thinks of God, it’s when Newt is explaining Hogwarts to him. They’re together in the small hut inside Newt’s suitcase, Credence sitting against the wall on Newt’s bed while the older man sits on a stool near his desk.

The school seems like a fantastical dream, with ever changing stairways and a lake full of mermaids. Credence is hugging his knees to his chest, listening wide-eyed as Newt tells stories from his past. Newt doesn’t make eye contact while telling his tales, choosing to let his eyes settle on a spot just over Credence’s shoulder and get lost in the past. He has another strange smile on his face as he talks of his House, but it seems to be a sad smile all the same.

“How did you end up in Hufflepuff house?” Credence asks quietly, breaking Newt out of the spell of nostalgia.

“The houses were mainly decided by what you valued most,” Newt explains, “We were all sorted on our first day.” Credence watches as his eyes glaze over, surely thinking of how in awe he was of seeing Hogwarts for the first time. Credence feels a pang of jealously in his chest at the wistful way Newt talks of Hogwarts. There’s a sadness behind Newt’s words though, and Credence somehow knows deep down exactly the kind of pain Newt must feel when he thinks of the past.

“Gryffindor was the house of the brave, full of rough and courageous men and women. Ravenclaw was for the intelligent; the students who valued hard work and loved their studies. Slytherin,” Newt falters as he talks of the third house. His face becomes troubled and his eyes dart to meet Credence’s before he continues, “Slytherin was for the ambitious. For the cunning and clever.”

Newt shakes his head, seemingly clearing away any bad thoughts that Slytherin had conjured. His gaze drifts down towards the floor as his shoulders lean to the side and the Credence finds he misses the warmth of Newt’s honey gaze.

“Hufflepuff was for those who valued hard work and dedication,” Newt explains, finally coming to his own House. “We honored kindness and respect and loyalty.”

Credence thinks about Newt Scamander and finds that all those traits run rampant within him. But Newt seems sad when speaking of his fellow Hufflepuffs. 

“Did you not enjoy your placement?” Credence asks. He tries to picture Newt in any of the other houses, and while he does agree that Newt is one of the bravest men he’s ever met, and is certainly intelligent and clever; he just doesn’t fit anywhere but Hufflepuff.

“I loved being a member of my house, but Hufflepuff didn’t exactly have the best reputation.” Newt explains calmly. “The other houses thought we were unimportant because we weren’t as loud or boisterous as them. The Ravenclaws thought we were lazy, the Gryffindors thought us meek, and the Slytherins called us boring.”

Credence is taken aback by the other houses’ treatment of Hufflepuff. In his opinion, there was nothing better to be than honest and kind. No person has ever treated Credence with the kindness that Newt does. No other man or woman has ever been so loyal and honest with Credence. Has Newt no idea of the goodness in himself? Does he not recognize his own light?

Before he knows it, Credence is whispering a verse to Newt.

“Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.” He quotes fervently, eyes searching Newt’s freckled face. They lock gazes and Credence swallows heavily. Newt doesn’t respond for a long time, but when he does, his voice is soft.

“Thank you,” He whispers, and Credence nods in response. They sit in silence for a moment more before Newt clears his throat loudly and asks if Credence would like to hear another story about the Forbidden Forest.

That night, while Credence lays in bed, he doesn’t think of his sins. Instead, images of Newt’s sad, kind eyes fill his mind. 

 

3.  
It’s during a rescue mission gone wrong that Credence turns to God again. 

It had been a while since his thoughts had been of his religion, choosing spells and potions over prayer and communion. He worships now at the altar of Newt, laying all his trust and love into the other man. He no longer languishes over his sins (though sometimes he finds he reverts back to self-loathing when he thinks particularly long about what Newt’s strong hands would feel like upon him), but revels in his ability to do magic and care for creatures and be useful. Newt continuously encourages Credence and praises him and so Newt is now where Credence places his affections for a higher power.

They’re both kneeling on the dusty floor of a tavern somewhere in the Scottish countryside when Credence learns how dangerous Newt’s work really can be. He’d known of course that sometimes the creatures could be harmful; he’d seen the scars that criss cross Newt’s body before when sneaking glances as the other man changed. But he’d never considered the other side of magical beast wrangling- the people. 

The poachers they’d happened across had been breeding and abusing Fwoopers, a loud and and beautiful bird-creature, for their colorful feathers. Newt had caught wind of it and they’d traveled all this way in the hopes of sneaking out the birds. Of course, this plan hadn’t gone exactly perfect.

Credence doesn’t dare to look up at the poachers, two burly men who look so very pleased to have captured Newt and himself. He feels himself shaking, a mix of anxiety and fear bubbling from within and making the magic inside him thrum with energy. The poachers notice his trembling and one of them laughs.

“Scared, boy?” He taunts, and Credence carefully fixes his eyes on the man’s boots. His vision begins to blur. He can feel the Obscurus inside him clawing to get out and focuses on regulating his breathing as Newt had taught him. Control, he tells himself. 

“Answer me when I speak to you,” the man yells angrily, and takes a step forward. He grabs hold of Credence’s hair and forces him to look up and make eye contact. Credence swallows, and feels another hand snake its way up and clutch onto his throat. The hand isn’t applying pressure to his neck yet, but Credence feels his throat constrict all the same. It’s getting harder to tamp down the beast inside him now.

“Please don’t hurt him,” Newt cries, distressed. Distantly, Credence recognizes Newt’s voice and holds onto it. He lets Newt ground him, and tries to calm down. He struggles to take a deep breath against the hand on his throat, and closes his eyes tightly.

Suddenly, he's being forced back, layed down on the floor, a pressure at his neckholding him down. He vibrates with anger and fear and dread as the Obscurus grows stronger. 

“Credence, you have to control it,” Newt says to him, but is silenced by a magical blow from the other poacher. Credence turns his head to look at his friend and watches as the poacher does something that contorts Newt’s face in pain. Tears leak out of Credence’s eyes and wet the dusty floor as he struggles to break the man’s hold on his throad to no avail. He feels himself slipping. Black sand begins to seep out of him. He hears the poacher on top of him exclaim, but it’s so far away now. There’s a rushing in Credence’s ears as he watches Newt seize against the magic placed on him and the pressure on his back seems to disappear. Distantly, he feels the poacher shove his head back further into the floor, but he’s light as a Fwooper feather now. His vision blurs as his irises turn white and he’s almost in full Obscurial form when he hears Newt speak again.

“Control,” Newt chokes out and Credence catapults back into his physical form. This takes the poachers both by surprise, and the one torturing Newt breaks focus. Though weak, Newt takes the opportunity and casts a spell at him that knocks him back and paralyzes him. Credence surges upwards and the man on top of him is weakened by surprise and is overtaken. Newt doesn’t hesitate to paralyze him too.

There’s a beat of silence before Newt and Credence are moving towards each other and embracing.

“Are you okay?” Newt says, hands on Credence’s cheeks. The younger man nods, eyes raking up and down Newt’s form to make sure he’d hadn’t been too badly hurt by the poacher’s magic. “Credence, that was amazing. I’m so proud of you.”

Credence flushes at Newt’s praise and looks down at the ground. The psalm is falling from his mouth before he can even think to stop it.

“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Newt nods and brings Credence to his chest once again, patting the boy’s hair. Credence no longer trembles.

Later, when the Fwoopers are safe in Newt’s trunk and the poachers are far away, Newt and Credence share a bed. Unable to bear to be away from the other after their dangerous night, they lie next to one another on Newt’s cot and drift off to the sound of each other’s breaths. In the dark, Credence listens to the beat of Newt’s heart and thinks that his once mighty devotion to God has nothing on the devotion he feels for this incredible man.

 

+1.  
Sometimes, Credence has dreams of the life he’d left behind. His nightmares are full of pain and black smoke and Ma whipping him for his sins. In these dreams, he shucks his belt and when he goes to hand it to Ma, looks up and sees Newt Scamander’s face staring back at him. He shudders and the belt slips from his fingers and he blinks and Newt is gone and Ma is back. He screams and writhes and Modesty is there, looking away as Mary Lou punishes him. 

When he wakes though, he’s home. Newt’s arms are around him in his bed, pressing Credence against his chest and protecting him even in sleep. Some mornings, Newt’s hold feels constrictive and Credence has to escape immediately, but most of the time he clutches back just as hard. 

Credence has found that his devotion to a higher power is finally a two-way street. When he worshipped God, the Lord never returned his love. God never shown his glory down on Credence (except perhaps in bringing him Newt Scamander, but Credence doesn’t let God have the credit for that one). But Newt Scamander… he returns Credence’s love and adoration in every way he can. Through kindness and patience. Through a light kiss on the corner of Credence’s mouth when he finally figures out his first spell. Through a quick squeeze on the arm as he walks past Credence feeding the grindylows. A smile over the rim of his teacup. A hand on Credence’s back, steadying him as he attempts transfiguration. A mouth on the curve of Credence’s spine. A tear shed when he’d seen the evidence of Mary Lou’s punishment that crossed Credence’s back and thighs and hands. An unafraid “I love you,” over breakfast.

Though sometimes Newt becomes withdrawn and thoughtful, Credence never doubts that Newt loves him. Newt is reckless and dangerous and so full of hope and happiness. He’s a fantastic beast all on his own and Credence would never have him any other way. Newt can be awkward and uncomfortable, but he’s always patient and never cruel. Credence did not know it at the time, but Newt Scamander is exactly what he’d been praying for all his life.

 

One bad morning, Credence wakes with a scream in his throat. Newt is already wide awake, hands on Credence’s shoulders and looking panicked (the way he looks when one of his magical beasts is in pain, and Credence feels pleased to know he means as much to Newt as his creatures do). Once he sees that Credence has finally woken, his hold loosens.

Credence feels black sand slipping out of his fingertips but quickly concentrates and tames the magic inside of him. He’s breathing quickly, flashes of his nightmare coming back to him and making him break out in a cold sweat.

“Credence, you’re not back there,” Newt assures him, taking the younger’s man’s hand and holding to his own heart. 

“Focus on my breathing,” Newt says, and Credence closes his eyes and tries to calm down. He breathes in and out, curling his fingers against Newt’s chest and focusing on the heat there.

“I’m sorry,” Credence spits out because old habits die hard and he can’t help but apologize for his fear. Newt shushes him softly and they breathe together for a few moments more. “Sometimes I become afraid and worry that one day I’ll wake up and all this will have just been a dream.” He confesses, and Newt takes hold of the back of his neck and brings Credence’s forehead to rest against his sternum.

Newt is silent for a moment.

“There is no fear in love.” He recites.

Credence recognizes the verse and a swell of emotion starts turning over in his chest. The sand inside him is swirling and tossing and he brings his head up from Newt’s collar and surges forward to cover the man’s mouth with his own.

It’s the last time Credence thinks of the bible after running away with Newt Scamander, but only because he has a religion of his very own now.

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first fanfic ive written in FIVE YEARS and also my first harry potter fanfic ever so idk go easy one me? also this is my first fic on ao3 so please let me know if i messed up the formatting! 
> 
> basically i have fallen deep into the dark hole of Crewt and can never get out. come visit me on tumblr @credbareboned
> 
> biblical verses used, in order:  
> 1\. James 3:7  
> 2\. Proverbs 3:3  
> 3\. Psalm 94:19  
> 4\. John 4:18
> 
> the title is taken from Peter 4:8


End file.
